nelson



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

-tHHHUHHUIHHHHUHHHWHH .......M

1111 lllllxli Patented Deo. 18

.....l...1.H.L rinmw... W15-..

(No Moae1.)`

W. NELSON 8v E. BOWEN.

WOOL DRYlNG APPARATUS. No. 394,713.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

- (No Model.)

W. NELSON SLE. BOWEN'.

WOOL DRYING APPARATUS.

N, Penna mwumugmphef, wmngwn n. c

Vtem'ber 26, 1887,) of which the following is a UNITED STATES PATENT QEEICE.

VILLIAM NELSON AND EUGENE BOVEN, OF TOMOANA, NEYV ZEALAXD.

WOOL-DRYING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,713, dated. December 18, 1888.

Application filed May 14, 1888. Serial No. 273,894. (No model.)

Patented in New Zealand .Tune 11, l 887, No. 2, 8 8l; in Tasmania July 23,1887,N0.476/9; in Victoria August 25,1887,No. 5,265; in England August 27, 1887,N0.11,665; in New South Wales August 27, 1887, No. 148, and in Queensland September 26, 1887, No. 324:.

To all whom it may con/ecru.' I

Be it known that we, WILLIAM NELSON and EUGENE BOWEN, citizens of the colony of New Zealand, both residing at Tomoana, in the provincial district of Hawkes Bay, in the said colony, and subjects of Her Majesty Queen Victor a, have invented a new and usetul Improved MachineI for Drying lVool, (for which we have obtained the following' patents: New Zealand, No. 2,381, bearing date J une 11, 1887; Tasmania, No. 476/9, bearing date July 23,1887; Victoria, No. 5,265, bearing date August 25, 1887; Great Britain, No. 11,665, bearing date August 27, 1887 New South lVales, No. 118, bearing date August 27 1887 and Queensland, No. 321, bearing date Sepspecitication.

The objects of our invention are to expose the wool to be dried to a current of warm air, so that its fibers may be repeatedly acted upon by such air, and thus be regularly and rapidly dried, and to expel the' dried wool from the machine by means of a blast or current of air.

Our improved machine consists of a drum open at both ends and revolving in a casing, the'cylimlrical portion of the said drum being i `constructed of .bars and annular bands, bel tween which bars air is forced from a longii tudinal air-trunk in the said casing. The interior of the drum is furnished with longitudinal shelves, which, as the drum revolves, successively take np portions of the wool and allows them to fall, and thus expose them fully to the current of air. The dried wool is ejected from the machine by Ineans of a current of air diverted from the air-trunk and forced through a pipe opening into the feed end of the drum.

Having thus described the nature of our invention, we will proceed to describe the manner-in which thesame is to be performed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to' the letters and iigures marked thereon.

Figure 1 represents the machine partly in side elevation and partly in section, taken on theliueY Z, Fig. 2. Figs. 2 and 3 respectively represent the feed and discharge ends of the drum. Fig. l represents in section, on a larger scale, one of the panels hereinafter described; and Fig. 5 represents the air-trunk in crosssection on a larger scale.

The same letters indicate the same parts in all the iigurcs.

A A is the casing of the machine.

B is the drum, the ends of which are formed of wooden rings b b', made in segmental portions or fellies screwed together, the said rings being strengthened with iron bands or wires Z22 b2, which run upon friction-rollers c c r c2, the roller c being grooved, as shown. The drum may be driven from either end by means of a belt passing from one ot' the rings b b 65 to a driving-p Lilley overhead. Inside flanges, h3 b3, are affixed to the rings b h', the said flanges being strengthened by means of iron rings b* b, which also form seatings for the doors D D2. The door D is hinged to the bar d and the door I)2 is hinged to the bar (Z2, the latter being secured at its ends lo casing A.

b5 b5 are tubes screwed tothe rings Ii Ii', and extending from end to end of the drum. The spaces between these tubes are filled by longitudinal panels of wooden bars. o, Figs. 1, 3, and 4, forming the periphery ot' the drinn, narrow spaces being left between the bars for the passage of the air. The said bars Ii are held by notched segments bl. (See Fig. 4.)

E E are shelves consisting of curved iron bars e c', to which are screwed cylindrical wooden bars e2 e2. Those portions of the bars c e to which the bars c2 e2 are screwed have curved hollows tiled therein to receive the said bars e2 e?, and the portions which pass through the tubes b5 h5 are turned smaller than the other portions and have screwthreads and nuts by which they are bolted to the said tubes. In constructing the drum the tubes b5 ZP, with the shelves E E affixed thereto, are screwed to the rings b h', and the panels 1)290 are successively placed between the said tubes and fixed in position by strips of iron banding bs 198, in which aie drilled holes coinciding with the holes in the tubes b5 b5, through which are passed the screw-bolts which secure the strips to the said tubes.

IOO

F is an air-trunk, into which warm air is forced through the main trunk H by a fan or other suitable blowing apparatus. The air-trunk F is Xed in one of the lower angles of the casing A and has a longitudinal slit, f', forming a discharge-orifice forthe air, which passes between the bars b b5 into and obliquely through the drum to a longitudinal opening, a', near the opposite upper angle of the said casing, through which the heated air escapes from the machine. The course of the said air is indicated by the arrows.

`G is a pipe, the bent end of which projects through the casing into the drum, through which pipe air is forced into the drum for the purpose of blowing the dried wool out of it,

and thus rapidly emptying the said drum.

The lower end of the pipe G opens into the main trunk H.

By referring to Fig. 3 it will be seen that as soon as each of the shelves E E has passed its highest point of revolution the blast of air is directed upon the dried wool just as it is falling from the shelf. l

7i is a nap-valve mounted on a spindle, h2, turned as required by a handle, h3, which can be hooked to the casing A, so as to keep the said valve either in its vertical or horizontal position. Vhen the valve is horizontal, it closes the communication between the main trunk H and the pipe G and admits the current of air to the air-trunk F, and when the said valve is vertical it shunts .the air from the air-trunk-F into the pipe G.

a2 CL2 are doors for the removal of the dust which is shaken out of the wool.

Although we have represented our machine as made chiefly of wood, it may be made of galvanized iron or other suitable material.

Two or more of our machines may be arranged si(1 e by side, in which case the airtrunks thereof receive their supply of air from the main trunk H, common t all.

The action of the machine is as follows:

The workman first starts the drum and fixes,

they pass their highest point ot' revolution.

The fibers are thus repeatedly exposed to the current of warm air passing upward from the air-trunk F until they are dried, and are also freed from the greater part of any dust, &c., which l. they may contain, and which, being shakerri'ut by the action of the drum, falls through the bars thereof onto the fioor, from which it can from time to time be removed through the doors a2 a2. When the wool has been sufficiently dried, the workman opens lthe door D2 and fixes the valve h in its vertical position, and thus diverts the air from the air-trunk F to the pipe G, whence it issues Awith sufficient force to expel the dried wool from the drum as the said Wool falls from the shelves E E. He then', without stopping the drum, closes the door D', opens thedoor D2, fixes the valve h in its horizontal position, throws in more wet wool, and the operation is repeated.

Ve have found in practice that six revolutions a minute is a good speed at which to drive the drum, and that a blast of air at a temperature of from 96 to 100o Fahrenheit gives a good result; but we do not limit ourselves either to the speed or the heat described.

Having now described the nature of our invention and the manner in which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit` ourselves to the precise details hereinbefore described, as they may 85 be varied without departing from the nature of our said invention; but

Ve claim as our invention; l. In a wool-drying machine, the combination of the outer casing, the drum mounted to 9o revolve therein and having open ends, its periphery being formed by bars with intermediate spaces for the'passage of air, the inwardlyproj ecting shelves for raising the wool to the top of the drum and then permitting it to fall, an air-trunk having a longitudinal slit or orifice, and a pipe leading from said airtrunk and communicating directly with said drum through the feed end thereof for the purpose of discharging the contents thereof, roo

substantially as described.

2. The combination of the outer casing, the revolving drum having open ends and spaces in its periphery7 for the admission and exit of air, a longitudinal air-trunk within said casin g and having a discharge-orifice below said drum, doors at the ends of said drum, a pipe leading' from the air-trunk to the feed end of the drum, and a valve for controlling the direction of the air-current, substantially as de- 1 ro 

